Pressure-reducing gage



G. M. BY RNE AND W. M. SIBLEY.

PRESSURE REDUCING GAGE.

v v I MiPLICATlON FILED APR. 10. 1920,.

Patented June 21, 1921;

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GEORGE M. BYRNE AND WrLrirni/r ivr. SZBLEY, or LINCOLN, NEBRA PRESSURE-REDUCING GAGE.

Application filed April 10, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE M. BYnNn and VVILLIAM M. SIBLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and usi ul Pressure- Reducing Gage, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a novel pressure reducing device for reducing high pressure gases to a desired low pressure, and which will maintain at the outlet an even flow of gas at a predetermined low pressure. It is one of the objects of our invention to devise a pressure-reducing valve which will operate with the minimum friction on the regulating piston, or any other portion of the device. It 1s another object of our invention to provide a pressure reducing valve so constructed as to obviate the possibility of the gas freezing up at the point of expansion of the gas and thus stopping the outflow of gas. It is further our object to provide a device of comparatively simple construction for attaining the objects above described. It is also our object to provide a pressure reducing valve that is not necessarily limited to reducing gas pres sure only. We attain the objects of our in vention by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of same; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Like numerals designate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, we provide a suitable valve casing 1, having a removable top 19. Adjustably mounted in top 19 is an adjusting screw 18, exerting tension on spring 17, which bears against the upper portion of a valve piston 2, which is reciprocable longitudinally in casing 1. Opposed to spring 17 is a spring 14, exerting tension upward on the lower or opposite side of piston 2. Piston 2 is provided with an annular groove 3, thus forming the annular chamber 4, illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Midway of casing 1 is an intake port 5, connected with inlet pipe 9. Seated in member 5 is intake valve 5, shaped to seat on Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921. Serial in. 372,749.

valve seat 7 and having a valve stem 8 abutting on the annular grooved portion 8 of piston 2. Disposed is a port 10, which allows gas to flow into pipe 11 and thence through port 12 into chamber 13, from whence it is delivered to outlet port 15 and outlet pipe 21. We provide a suitable pressure gage 16. Piston 2 1S provlded with suitable packing rings 20.

he operation of reducing the pressure upon gas, which is supplied through pipe 9 and intake 5, is accomplished by the piston 2 moving up and down in the cylindrical casing 1 and by the annular slantingly grooved portion of the piston, which serves to open and close the valve 6 in the intake port through Which the gas is received from the high pressure supply tank.

When screw 18 is screwed down, this compresses spring 17, forcing piston 2 downward and compressing the spring 14. The movement of piston 2 downward opens valve 6, allowing the gas from the supply tank to flow around the groove 4 in piston 2, and thence through port 10, pipe 11 and port 12 into the lower and thence through port 15 to the outlet pipe 21. As pressure in chamber 13 in creases, this pressure combined with the ten men on spring 14 will force piston 2 upward, compressing spring 17, and also allowing valve 6 to close. As pressure is reduced in chamber 13. the tension of spring 17 on piston 2 will force it downward, opening intake valve 6 and allowing gas to flow through the apparatus as above described, and out through outlet port'15. Adjustment of the device is effected by adusting screw 18, to exert the desired compression required on compression spring 17. A constant pressure on gas flowing through outlet port 15 is maintained, regulated by the tension on spring 17.

By providing the valve 6 in operative connection as shown in Fig. 2, with the slanting grooved portion ofthe piston 2, the size of the opening through the intake port is regulated by the movement of the piston acting against the rounded end of the valve stem 8. Valve 6 also serves to regulate the inflow of gas and prevent the gage from freezing, which might otherwise be caused by the expansion of the compressed gas. When the portion of chamber 13,

opposite intake port 5 gas flowing past valve 6 commences to freeze, pressure on the under side of piston 2 is reduced and the spring 17 will thereupon force the piston 2 downwardly. This action of piston 2, by reason of the slanting wall of grooved forces valve 6 away from its seat 7 thus enlarging the passagefor the gas into annular chamber a, and thence through conduit 11 into. chamber 13, thereby insuring I a continuous flow of gas into chamber 13, and from that chamber through outlet port 15 into outlet pipe 21. /Ve may provide a suitable safety valve 22 for chamber 13. When piston 2 is at the top or upward limit of its range of travel, itwill strike shoulder 23, at which place valve 6 is closed. We provide an opening 24: communicating from the outside atmosphere to the chamber 25, above the piston 2.

h lanufacturers of difierent gases ship same compressed into different sizes of steel drums or cylinders, under as high a pressure as 3,000 lbs. to the square inch, as this is the only way it can be economically handled. The user must reduce this down to from 5 to 10 lbs. pressure before he can use it for brazing, or the dentist or physician for medical purposes, not to mention many other uses. Valves now in use release the high pressure gases directly against a piston of conventional construction or the side of a diaphragm (instead of into an annular'chamber on an annularly chambered piston, shaped as shown in member 2 in Fig. 2, as in our device), and the strain on the valve and its parts soon destroys the efiiciency of the reducing valve, so that it will not continue to deliver at the outlet a steady and evenfiow of gas. They are also liable to freeze up.v at the point of expansion of the gas, thus stopping the flow of gas completely. Our invention aims to do away with the eizcessive strain on the valve and to prevent this freezing from stopping the flow of gas while the valve is being used.

lVhat we claim is:

1. In a pressure reducing gage for reduc ing high pressure gases to a desired low pressure, the combination of. a casing, a piston longitudinally reciprocable in said cas-- ing, springs bearing against opposite sides of the piston, means for adjusting the tension exerted by one of said springs, an annular beveled groove encircling the piston, an intake port disposed opposite said groove, a pressure reducing valve mounted in said port and having its stem bearing against the beveled surface of the groovedportio-n of the piston to enable movement of the piston to adjust the size of the valve opening, a conduit opening out of the opposite side of the casing and in communication with the annular chamber formed by the groove in the piston, said conduit'extending to and open- 1ng into the chamber in the casing below the piston, and means for the outflow of gas at reduced pressure from said chamber.

2. In a pressure reducing gage for reducing high pressure gases to a desired low pressure, the combination of a casing, an annularly grooved piston, an intake port opposite the grooved portion of said piston, a reducing valve in said port, said valve being regulated by the movement of the piston, resilient means normally holding the piston in a predetermined position, means for adjusting this position, a conduit in communication with the chamber formed by the annular groove in the piston, said conduit communicating with the chamber below the piston, and means for the outflow of gas from. said chamber. 7

3. In a pressure reducing gage for reducing high pressure gases to a desired low pressure, he combination of a casing having a piston resiliently supported midway of the casing, means for adjusting the resilient tension exerted on the piston, an intake port, a reducing valve in said port, said reducing valve 7 being operatively controlled by the position of the piston, the piston having an annular groove, a conduit from said grooved chamber to the chamber in the lower portion of the casing below the piston, and means.

for the outflow of gas at reduced pressure from said chamber.

4:- As a new article of manufacture for use in a pressure reducing gage for reducing high pressured gases to a desired low pressure, a cylindrical piston having a longitudinally beveled annular chamber positioned midway of the piston to form a gas passage and to provide a means for auto-.

matically regulating the movement of a reducing valve, the stem of which is in contact with said beveled grooved surface of the piston.

In a pressure reducing gage for reducing high pressure gases to a desired low pressure, the combination of a casing, an annularly grooved piston reciprocable in said casing, a reducing valve regulating the flow of gas into the chamber formed by the annular groove in the piston, said reducing valve being controlled by the position of the piston, resilient means exerting tension on opposite sides of the piston, means for regulating the tension thus exerted by one of the springs, and a conduit extending from the annular chamber formed by the groove in the piston to the chamber in the casing below the piston, whereby the piston acting as a valve will equalize the pressure ofgas by utilizing the annular groove to control the ing valve in contact With the beveled grooved a predetermined position for the purposes surface of the piston and controlled by its described.

movement, and means for conducting gas GEORGE M. BYRNE. from the annular chamber formed by the WILLIAM M. SIBLEY. groove to a chamber below the piston, and Signed in presence ofmeans resiliently exerting tension on oppo- M. L. EASTERDAY,

site sides of the piston to normally hold it in D. J. FLAHERTY. 

